FORT WAYNE, Ind.—Three departments within the College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) at Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) recently merged their respective students for a patient care simulation.

FORT WAYNE, Ind.—Three departments within the College of Health and Human Services (CHHS) at Indiana University–Purdue University Fort Wayne (IPFW) recently merged their respective students for a patient care simulation.

The simulation scenario began when a patient in the dental clinic, located on the first floor of Neff Hall, experienced severe chest pain. (The patient in all the simulation exercises was a high-tech mannequin that “breathes” and has a heartbeat and pulse.) Nursing and dental hygiene students assessed the patient and put him on a stretcher and took him to the radiography lab in the basement of Neff Hall. After being assessed by radiography and nursing students, the patient was taken to the “IPFW Hospital,” located on the third floor of the Liberal Arts Building, for further assessment and treatment by nursing students.

The simulation was repeated four times so each of the nearly 50 students and 15 faculty from the three disciplines could take part.

The goals for the exercise were to increase students’ awareness of other professionals and their role in patient care, as well as developing a process by which future simulations can be developed. Rebecca Jensen, director of simulation and research in the department of nursing, said, “Overall, we were pretty pleased with how the simulations turned out. We learned a lot of things, one being that we need to do more simulations and we need to know more about the scope of practice for each discipline involved in the exercises. Ultimately, we hope to include medical students from the IU School of Medicine at the Fort Wayne campus in future simulations.”

Planning for the exercise began early in 2013 and continued until the event. The planning committee included Ann Obergfell, CHHS dean; Cheryl Duncan, director of the radiography program; Nancy Mann, clinical associate professor in the dental program; Deborah Poling, assistant professor and director of graduate programs; Linda Finke, senior director and professor of interprofessional education and practice; and Jensen, all from the Department of Nursing.